ellen

Ellen - The Complete Season Four
$19.95
What can I say I Love this show. I love Ellen herself, Joley Fisher, Jeremy Previn

and the whole cast.

Ellen DeGeneres - The Beginning / Here and Now
$19.98
I love these stand up routines. They are thought provoking, funny, serious, intelligent. I have watched them many times and have showed them to many friends. Ellen is a GREAT comedian and her material is original. With this set you are getting two of her stand up routines--well worth the money. And, if you ever feel down, just pop one in and laugh uncontrollably.

The Ellen Show - The Complete Series
$29.95
Here's another show (along with "Bette" and "What About Joan") which I'm still surprised didn't have a longer shelf-life. THE ELLEN SHOW was Ellen DeGeneres' followup to her "Ellen" sitcom (which folded in 1998 after it's fourth season when DeGeneres controversially came out both on the show and in real life). DeGeneres wisely avoided the trap which brought the axe down on her previous show, and established her character in THE ELLEN SHOW as gay right from the start, thereby getting the issue out of the way to focus on the stories at hand--of which very few focus on the character's sexuality.

In THE ELLEN SHOW, DeGeneres plays Ellen Richmond, a dot.com company owner who files for Chapter 11, and is forced to move back to her hometown of Clark. There, she finds her mother Dot (Cloris Leachman), crazier than ever, has kept her room exactly as she left it--anticipating the very day that Ellen would return home in precisely these circumstances! Ellen's man-crazy younger sister Catherine (Emily Rutherford) works at the pharmacy/coffee shop, and her former highschool boyfriend Rusty Carnouk (Jim Gaffigan) has a job at the...erm, highschool.

With nothing else to fall back on, Ellen applies for the position of guidance counsellor at her old highschool. A true fish-out-of-water, Ellen tries sharing and applying her "big city" life experiences with her new colleagues, only for everything to always end in disaster!

Due to poor ratings, THE ELLEN SHOW was canned after only one season. Watching the series again on DVD I'm struck by how strong and terribly sharp the writing was. It's a fantastic series! Cloris Leachman is hilarious as Ellen's mother--and Ms Leachman has been extremely discerning in recent years about the TV shows she commits herself to on a permanent basis--so it must have been good enough for her to sign the dotted line. Emily Rutherford (whom many would recognise as one of Jack's main acting students in "Will & Grace") is wonderfully goofy as Catherine. Martin Mull co-stars as highschool principal Mr. Munn--a role not too dissimilar from the one he filled in "Sabrina the Teenage Witch".

COMPLETE EPISODE LISTING:

"Pilot"- Ellen Richmond, a successful dot.com owner, returns in triumph to her hometown of Clark for the very first Ellen Day celebrations, until a phonecall turns her whole life around...

"Walden Pond" - Wondering how to spend the rest of her life - or the life she must lead in Clark - Ellen decides to mull over her throughts by sitting next to a calm river...

"Chain Reaction" - Ellen goes on the campaign trail when P.J. Knockers, a Hooters-esque chain restaurant, announces it will open a franchise in Clark...but is forced to change her tactics when Catherine lands a job there.

"Vanity Hair" - Ellen's set to appear in a "Where Are They Now?" article on failed dot.com execs in Vanity Fair, but first she must do something about her hairstyle...

"The Move" - Jealous of Ellen's new relationship with their mother (involving Tivo, "Judge Judy" and a fancy back-support chair), Catherine moves in with her latest boyfriend...without telling Dot.

"Muskrat Love" - Raccoons are devouring the Richmond lawn, but Ellen's truly disturbed when she discovers who the real culprit is...

"Joe" - Dot's new "gentleman caller" (Tom Poston) seems like a great guy, until Ellen spies him at the AA meetings she frequents because of their fantastic coffee...

"Cathy's Taffy" - Ellen needs a new ticket to success if she ever wants to leave Clark, and Catherine's super popular taffy recipe just might do the trick...

"Missing the Bus" - When Ellen accidentally sets long-time schoolbus driver Mrs Gibson (Betty White) into unwanted retirement, she must take up the steering wheel herself...

"Alive and Kicking" - Ellen tries to negotiate a way she can purchase her favourite brand-name groceries without upsetting Dot's frugal ways.

"Ellen's First Christmas" - Ellen invites Aunt Mary (special guest star Mary Tyler Moore), a successful Chicago journalist, home for Christmas; completely unaware of the feud which has kept her estranged from Dot.

"A Bird in the Hand" - Dot gives Ellen a hideous "family heirloom" brooch which she duly misplaces...

"Just the Duck" - When Catherine and Rusty secretly start dating, Ellen--wanting to dine solo at a fancy restaurant without shame or pity--becomes the third wheel in their relationship.

"Shallow Gal" - Wanting some belated acceptance into the "cool crowd", Ellen befriends former highschool cheerleading queen Rita (Maureen McCormick), alienating herself from her work colleagues in the process...

"Gathering Moss" - When Catherine becomes a mindless follower of motivational speaker Percy Moss (John Ritter), it's up to Ellen for some counter-brainwashing...

"A Matter of Principal" - When Mr. Munn appoints Ellen as his temporary replacement, all hell breaks loose at the highschool...

"Where the Sun Doesn't Shine" - Dot looks almost certain to win a prestigious local award...until Ellen is also nominated...

"One for the Roadshow" - When Ellen finds a sealed first edition Monopoly in the attic, it could provide the money she needs to buy her own place...

The Ellen DeGeneres Show - DVD-Licious
$14.98
These DVDs are full of hillarious moments in different Ellen shows. Makes a great gift for Ellen fans!